Every year WildPhotos draws an outstanding line-up of speakers who explore creativity in the world of nature photography, transporting delegates to far flung corners of the world through stunning images of nature and the stories behind them, as well as providing practical advice and techniques for both out in the field and back in the studio. Check out this year’s programme.

We are incredibly fortunate in that many WildPhotos speakers also kindly contribute their images to ARKive, in order to help us with our mission of promoting the conservation of the world’s threatened species through the power of wildlife imagery.

Here’s our pick of some of our favourite images from this year’s speakers:

Andy Rouse

British wildlife photographer Andy Rouse is well-known for his striking images, including this beautiful shot of a mountain gorilla. In 2010 Andy won the Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species at the prestigious Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition – a category which is sponsored by ARKive.

Bruno D’Amicis

Italian Bruno D’Amicis trained as a wildlife biologist but wanted to find a way to inspire people about nature conservation rather than just practise it. Photography was his choice, and he specialises in mountain wilderness areas and photographs of animals that give a true feel of the wild. We have a great collection of Bruno’s images on ARKive including this meadow viper.

Jürgen Freund

Jürgen’s work, on land and underwater, has been widely published all over the world. He has had solo exhibitions and has been a prize-winner in international competitions, including Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. We love this image of a tiny hawksbill turtle hatchling taking shelter amongst some seaweed.

Bence Máté

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010, Bence Máté is another speaker for WildPhotos 2011 who also contributes images to ARKive. Bence’s photo of leaf-cutter ants in Costa Rica won the main award last year, so we thought we would stick with the invertebrate theme and share this image of a rhinoceros beetle with you.

Andrew Parkinson

Former press photographer Andrew Parkinson has a passion for wildlife, which is illustrated in his wonderful images on ARKive. Giving up his job to become a full-time nature photographer, Andrew specialises in British subjects. This image of a pied wagtail taking off from the snowy ground is a favourite in the ARKive office.

Sven Začek

Estonia’s leading nature photographer, Sven Začek is passionate about wetlands and wetland conservation, and as a result he has produced three books featuring the landscapes and wildlife of his homeland Estonia. This Eurasian beaver is a fantastic example of his work and also features on ARKive.

Michel Roggo

Michel specialises in photography of freshwater landscapes, animals and plants, and takes most of his pictures under the water, using specialist equipment he has developed himself. We think this image of roach spawning behaviour is particularly stunning.

Thomas P. Peschak

A trained marine biologist, Thomas is now focusing on environmental photojournalism after realising that he could have a bigger impact with photographs than statistics, which is something we can really relate to here at ARKive. Take a look at this amazing shot of an African clawless otter as it dives amongst the rocks.

Cyril Ruoso

A nature photographer who has for many years specialised in the photography of the world’s primates, Cyril Ruoso has travelled to most regions where wild populations still exist. One of our favourites is this shot of a Sumatran orang-utan infant being helped by its mother.

To hear from these photographers in person, why not attend WildPhotos – taking place on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Further information is available on the WildPhotos website, and tickets are available here.

We hope to see you there!

Finally, keep an eye out for a special blog on the WildPhotos’ keynote for 2011, Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Dykinga, coming soon to ARKive.

nice blog……..
I learnt the basic photography rules from Mr. Kishore Mamillapalli who is one of the leading wildlife photographers from South Africa. He used to say that “Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder”. If you like what you see on your camera screen, or through the viewfinder, you will like the photograph.

There are some basic photography rules for composition. Once you know these rules, you can use them, ignore them, or break them. Follow your gut, and you will end up with spectacular, sometimes breathtaking results. Kishore is really an astonishing wild life photographer and has a great eye for details..

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